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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Looking At the Final Roster and Practice Squad

Looking At the
Final Roster and Practice Squad

The Seahawks have announced their final 53 man roster and
their practice squad. Here’s a quick run-down. I should mention that this is as
of early Tuesday Sept. 6. I say that because the team could make changes as I’m
writing this, so…Check Your Programs! Seriously, this time of year roster
changes can happen at the blink of an eye; a player we’ve had our eyes on gets
released by a team hoping to ‘hide ‘the player for a day, just to be able to
resign him. But, enough front office worries, so here you go:

Quarterback

No real surprise here. Russell Wilson and Trevone Boykin.
Jake Heaps has been released. Many of the NFL ‘experts’ are pegging Russell to
have and MVP type year. With the way he played the second half of last season,
it’s not a big stretch. Some seem surprised that we kept undrafted free agent
Boykin as the backup. Personally, I can see Trevone becoming a Wilson style
quarterback. He is about as close, physical-wise, as you can get to Russell,
it’ll just be if he has it ‘between the ears’. Should be a fun project to
watch, I just hope we don’t have to call on Trevone during the season, for any
extended periods. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Seahawks, at some point, signed a
veteran QB to the practice squad.

Running Back

Second year Thomas Rawls should be ready to go this week,
with veteran Christine Michael as the back up. With the preseason Michael had,
if he can keep it up, may give the Seahawks one of the best one-two punches at
running back in the league. Rookie CJ Prosise has been called the third down
back, used much like Fred Jackson has been the last couple of seasons. He has
looked pretty impressive during limited action in the preseason. The surprise
for a lot of fans was the fourth running back. Rookie Alex Collins didn’t have
a lot of carries in the preseason, and many thought the team would keep
Troymaine Pope, who saw a lot of play in the preseason. Not sure if the team
thought they could resign Pope to the practice squad; he is now a New York Jet.
Feel pretty confident with Collins myself, as he has shown signs of having a
little Marshawn Lynch in him. As always, only time will tell.

Fullback

This time yesterday we wouldn’t have had a need for this
section, but the Seahawks have resigned rookie Tani Topou. I had heard they
might resign Will Tukuafu after cutting him on Saturday. Something about his
contract not being guaranteed if he’s not on the roster for the first game. Not
sure which way we will go here, but I’m assuming we signed Topou instead
because he has also played a lot of defensive line, and we’re a little thin in
that area.

Wide Receiver

Veterans Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Tyler Lockett, and
Paul Richardson were locks. The fifth spot went to Tanner McEvoy, a 6-6 rookie
out of Wisconsin. McEvoy impressed me during the preseason, knowing how to use
his size against smaller defensive backs. Just a side note; they say Tanner
used to play safety. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 6-6 safety. Would be fun to
watch, I guess. Additionally, McEvoy has spent a little time at tight end
during the preseason, and with Jimmy Graham still being questionable, and
rookie Vannett being banged up, it helps to have players capable of filling in
at multiple positions.

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham and Luke Willson are back again, along with
rookie Vannett. Also, the team kept Brandon Williams, a fourth year player out
of Oregon. I was impressed with Williams play over the last two preseason
games, but wasn’t sure if it would be enough to make the team. His pass
catching ability along with his blocking apparently was enough to make the
team. Injuries to Vannett and the lengthy rehab for Graham may have pushed the
team to keep Williams also. I’d like to see him have a good year. I’ always
believe our offense moves better with more use of the tight end in the passing
game.

Tackles

Gary Gilliam (R), J’Marcus Webb (R), Bradley Sowell (L)
George Fant (L)Webb is listed on the
depth chart as the backup on both sides, with rookie Fant being listed as third
team on the left side. With all the OTA and mini camp press about Gilliam
moving from right to left, now starting again at right, I’m guessing Sowell
impressed the coaching staff enough to leave Gilliam on the right. The tackle
play has been pretty good during the preseason. Once again, it’s just going to
take time for the offensive line to get used to each other. Just about anything
will be an improvement over last year.

Guards

Germain Ifedi (R), Mark Glowinski (L), Rees Odhiambo. Rees
is listed as backup on both sides. Only having three guards on the active
roster seems a little light to me, considering Ifedi and Odhiambo are both
rookies. I know a lot of offensive linemen have experience at multiple
positions, which helps in the event of an injury. Ifedi has shown to have a bit
of a mean streak so lets hope his coaches and teammates can keep him under
control.

Center

Justin Britt, Joey Hunt. Britt has made the switch to
center, and looks as if he is working out fine. Again, only time against other
teams’ starters will be the true test, but he has done a good job in the
preseason. Rookie Hunt making the team kind of surprised me. Letting Patrick
Lewis go, after numerous starts last year, left me feeling a little shaky, but
apparently the coaches saw enough in Hunt to feel safe.

Defensive End

Michael Bennett (L) Quinton Jefferson (L) Cliff Avril (R),
Frank Clark (R) I put right and left in here, but these guys move around a lot,
so it may be a moot point. Rookie Jefferson is the only question mark I see
here, as we’ve seen enough of the other three to know what they’re capable of.
Many, me included, expect big things from this group, Clark in particular. With
some of the flashes we saw during his rookie year, I think that he may become
one of the special players on this defense.

Defensive Tackle

Ahtyba Rubin (L) Garrison Smith (L) Tony McDaniel (R) Jarran
Reed (R). These positions are the same as the defensive ends, as they move
around a lot. These positions have also changed quite a bit over the last 24
hours. We just claimed Smith from the 49ers yesterday. Before getting Smith,
McDaniel was listed as the backup at the left end, with Reed the starter on the
right. Putting Smith as the backup on the left moved McDaniel to the starter on
the right, with rookie Reed as the backup. McDaniel’s familiarity in the system
may have something to do with this. I know the team expects big things from
Reed this season, hope we see them. The team had room for Smith after safety L.J.
McCray, acquired in a trade Saturday, failed the team physical.

Outside Linebacker

Mike Morgan, Cassius Marsh, K.J. Wright, Kevin Pierre-Louis.
Morgan has won the job replacing Bruce Irvin at SAM linebacker, with Marsh
making the switch from defensive end to be the backup. Morgan has a ton of
experience with Pete’s system, having played for him at USC, and K.J. is as
steady as they come. Dewey McDonald, acquired in a trade with Oakland Saturday,
is now listed as the third team linebacker behind Wright and Pierre-Louis on
the depth chart, though on the roster he is listed as a defensive back. Once
again, versatility helps!

Middle Linebacker

Bobby Wagner, Brock Coyle. No surprises at this position. I
think Wagner is as good as there is in the game today. As long as we can stay
healthy, this position will be fine.

Cornerback

Richard Sherman (L), Tharold Simon (L), Jeremy Lane (R),
DeShawn Shead (R), DeAndre Elliott (R). Only news here is who made the fifth
position. With a lot of players in camp, I’m sure it was a tough call for the
coaching staff. I hadn’t seed much of Elliott until the final preseason game,
but he looked impressive there. Apparently the coaches agreed, cutting Tye
Smith and Marcus Burley on Saturday. I’m guessing Elliott may have shown more
consistency on special teams, which helps when there are a lot of players for
just a couple of roster spots.

Strong Safety

Kam Chancellor, Kelcie McCray. Feeling pretty positive with
the players here, also. Kam is, well, Kam, and we all know what he brings to
the field. McCray, now in his fifth year, has a full season under his belt in
the Seahawk system, starting three games last year. He may not be the enforcer
that Kam is (who is?) but he has great ball skills, and familiarity with the
players around him.

Free Safety

Earl Thomas, Steven Terrell, Tyvis Powell. Thomas and
Terrell were expected, Powell is a little surprising, to me anyway. I really
thought the team was leaning towards Keenan Lambert, if we kept a third player
here at all. Perhaps Powell impressed enough on special teams to warrant keeping
him on the active roster. I’ll admit he did look good covering kicks during the
second or third game, I just wasn’t sure it was enough. Regardless, with All
World Earl and Terrell ahead of him, he may not see many snaps, other than
special teams.

Special Teams

Punter-Jon Ryan----All World, if he keeps kicking
like he did in preseason, they’re going to suspect PED’s

Kicker Steven Hauschka---Mr. Reliable, Steady Eddy

Long Snapper Nolan Frese, Bradley Sowell. Frese was a
little shaky at times during preseason. Let’s hope it was just the nagging
injury we heard about.

Kickoff & Punt Return Tyler Lockett Mr.
Excitement. Nothing better than watching him field a kick with a full head of
steam.

So that’s where we stand roster-wise as of today, Tuesday
Sept. 6, 2016. Not saying it hasn’t changed since I started typing, and if it
has, sorry. Looking forward to week one game against the Dolphins, as we
haven’t played them much as of late. I’m really expecting/hoping for big things
from the team. Should be exciting; surprisingly a total of 15 rookies on the
roster today. 28% of the roster is rookies. Another twelve with only one or two
year’s experience. So 27 players, over 50%, were not on the Super Bowl 48 winning
team. Why not let these players know what it feels like? Ok, that’s enough.Until next time……………..Go Hawks!!!

NOTE: See? Soon as I was done publishing the Seahawks signed
the final two players to the practice squad. Just to mess with me. They are as
follows:

Tacoby Cofield-UFA 2015 –Duke-Tackle

Justin Hamilton-UFA 2015-Louisiana-Lafeyette Defensive
Tackle

*Hamilton was cut by the Seahawks when they signed Garrison Smith on
Monday.